It’s an animal that can live for 500 years. The ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) is a clam native to the North Atlantic. They exemplify the slogan “Take it easy and live longer.”
The ocean quahogs living in deep, cold waters farther north live the longest. Those in the southern areas tend to have much shorter lives. Since these mollusks add one growth line to their shells each year, it’s possible to determine the age by counting the lines. The oldest reported specimen found in 2006 was 507 years old. That means this clam began its life shortly after Columbus discovered the Americas. Who knows how much longer it might have lived if it had escaped capture.
Ocean quahogs and a few other animals, such as tortoises, have a quality that scientists call “negligible senescence.” What that means is they don’t show signs of aging. Scientists are still trying to discover the factors that allow some animals to live long lives without apparent aging.
We suggest that one factor is obvious. “Take it easy and live longer” is demonstrated by the long-lived creatures with an unhurried and unstressed lifestyle. Perhaps we can learn something from that. The Creator had a reason for setting aside a time of rest.
If you can imagine a male frog sticking his leg up and waving his foot to attract the attention of a female frog, then you have a mental picture of “dancing frogs” (Micrixalus). Several species of these frogs live in the Western Ghats Mountain Range of India. Although these dancing frogs can’t dance like the cartoon version, with top hat and cane, they are gifted at sticking a leg out.
During the mating season, the male dancing frogs will find a prominent rock along the stream and puff out their white vocal sacs. Then they tap their hind foot on the rock and wave it in the air when they see a good-looking female frog approaching. They sometimes wave their foot when another male comes along to tell him, “This is my territory, and you better move along, buddy!” The frog may use alternate hind legs to perform this “foot flagging” while at the same time expanding its vocal sac to call out to the females. It’s a frog-style song and dance routine.
After mating, the female uses her hind legs to dig a hole in the streambed to bury the eggs. Dancing frogs are vulnerable because of habitat loss, but India has created some protected areas in the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot. We are continually amazed at the diversity and creativity in the beautiful system of life God created. We even find it entertaining.
When I was an atheist, it seemed ridiculous to me for there to be four accounts of the same story. Why not have one good account instead of four shoddy ones? The answer to why we have four gospels did not come to me for many years.
The old explanation that four different witnesses reported different things did not hold up well. Having one complete account made more sense to me. I finally came to see why we have four Gospels is because of the readers, not the writers. One of the problems that many Americans have with the Bible is that they assume it was written for Americans. The Bible is not an American book, and it is not about Americans.
We have three synoptic gospel accounts written by different authors, specifically designed for different groups of readers. In spite of that, there is an amazing accord between them. The synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke give a general view, or synopsis, of the events of Christ’s ministry.
The scholars who study the gospels tell us that 606 of the 661 verses of Mark appear in Matthew and that 380 of the verses of Mark are found in Luke. Mark is the oldest and shortest of the synoptic gospels. Matthew is very Jewish and contains much material that would be of interest to the Jewish culture, as well as covering the material in Mark. Luke was a well-educated Greek and a physician. His writing does not contain the Jewish slant of Matthew, and his approach would appeal to the Gentile, or Greek, population.
The Gospel of John is not synoptic but evangelistic. John’s purpose is to convince his readers that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. The very nature of Jesus as the logos in John 1:1 is expanded and carried throughout the gospel. Much of the information in John is not in the other Gospels, because it has a different purpose and intent. It is an apologetic gospel to address the skeptic and the uninformed.
Suggesting that the reason why we have four gospels is to prevent details from being left out is a vast oversimplification. The four gospels together give us a logical, reasonable, and essential understanding of what and who Jesus was and what He came to do. The Bible gives us an accurate record of the gospel.
Everyone is curious about the things we see in nature. Our posts here and on Facebook often concern animals, plants, and ecosystems. Most people looking at living creatures believe they see design and have questions about life in three categories.
The first category of questions, asked primarily by scientists or the scientifically minded, is, “How does it work?” We want to know how DNA determines the various traits of living things. We are curious about how green plants convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into energy to power their cells. How does a bat find its prey in the dark? How can an octopus control eight arms independently? The questions are numerous.
The second category is, “What is the purpose?” Atheist scientist Richard Dawkins stops after the “how” question to say, “Biology is the study of things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.” But then he makes it very clear that he believes they are not designed and have no purpose. On the other hand, theologians look for a purpose. Since God created the world, He must have a purpose in mind.
Both scientists and theologians ask questions in the third category. They want to know, “How and when did this originate? How did the universe come into being? How did life come from non-living chemicals? When did the first human life originate, and how?” For believers, the Bible gives us basic answers to those questions. However, since the Bible is not a science textbook, it leaves many questions unanswered. That is where science can find answers.
Looking at questions about life in three categories, the third category is very contentious because scientists and believers disagree. I mean that unbelieving scientists disagree with believers and vice versa. But also, scientists disagree with other scientists, and believers disagree with other believers. The curious thing is that in recent years, scientists have resolved some of their disagreements. Those who once insisted that the universe was eternal have been forced to accept the evidence of a cosmic beginning about 13.8 billion years ago.
Believers, however, continue to argue about young-earth and old-earth theology. All believers need to accept the fact that the Bible does not tell us when the universe began or when Adam and Eve lived. As Christians, we must let the Bible speak where it speaks and allow science to speak where it speaks. Of the questions about life in three categories, the most important for believers to examine falls into the second category. “What is the purpose of life?” That is a question the Bible clearly answers. For example, read Romans 12:1-2, Romans 6:22, and Ephesians 3:10-12.
In high school, I enjoyed science and decided that I wanted to be a scientist of some kind. I entered Indiana University and enrolled in an astronomy course at the feet of one of the great astronomers of the day. In that course, we studied the problem of origins — the creation of matter from nothing. As we discussed this subject, we went into various theories that had been proposed.
When we got to the conclusion of the discussion, I asked the professor which of the theories was the most acceptable one that satisfactorily explains the creation of matter from nothing. He leaned over the desk, looked me straight in the eye, and said, “Young man, you need to learn to ask intelligent questions.”
I did not appreciate the professor’s response, so I said, “Well, what do you mean?” He said, “This is not a question that a scientist tries to answer. This is a question for the philosopher or theologian, but this is not something that falls into the realm of science.” In today’s discussions of black holes and parallel universes, things have not changed. The fundamental question of the creation of matter/energy from absolutely nothing is not an area that can be scientifically explored.
I had always felt that science could ultimately answer all the questions humans have. I believed there was no challenge that science could not eventually resolve. Yet this learned man, an expert in his field, said that this was an area that the scientist should not even try to answer. It was totally beyond the capacity of science to explain and explore.
That was more than 50 years ago. Today there are even more questions science can’t answer, and one of the remaining unanswered questions involves the creation of matter from nothing.
This was adapted from “Why I Left Atheism” by John N. Clayton. You can read the entire story HERE.
Some people have asked how we can know that astronomers’ statements about the evolution and demise of stars are factual. This question is usually asked by those in religious denominations that demand a young Earth, which means a young cosmos. Even though the time factors are much longer than human existence, we can have confidence in astronomical observations.
Although humanity has not been around long enough to observe the complete life of a star, we have seen intermediate steps in star evolution. Astronomers plot the luminosity (brightness) of stars against their surface temperature (or color/spectral type) with graphs called the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram. It’s a powerful tool for classifying stars, studying their evolution, and understanding their properties. An example is the Crab Nebula.
In 1054, astronomers saw a star explode. The debris pattern of the explosion resembles a crab, so astronomers call it the Crab Nebula. Almost a millennium later, measurements show that the nebula is roughly 10 light years in diameter and is expanding at 1,500 kilometers per second. Observations of the Crab Nebula by the Hubble telescope in 2005 and the Webb telescope in 2023 show steps in the life of a star. Observations of other stars provide more information about a star’s lifetime, giving us confidence in astronomical observations.
Even though I didn’t see the launch, if I see a rocket climbing higher in the sky with every passing second, I know it was launched. I can even compute the launch time. When a car comes to a stop, leaving tire tracks, I know the car was going fast when someone applied the brakes. Every day, we understand evidence of a process without seeing it from start to finish. Astronomers come to understand the life history of stars in the same way.
As we have pointed outbefore, the Bible does not tell us the age of the cosmos or Earth. We can have confidence in astronomical observations. Young-earth theology is not only in opposition to the evidence but is also inconsistent with the biblical account.
Two small but fierce animals live in the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. One is the Arizona bark scorpion (Centruroides sculpturatus), and the other is the southern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys torridus). The scorpion and the mouse give medical science an insight into pain relief.
Arizona bark scorpions grow to barely more than three inches (8 cm) long, but their stingers pack a wallop. They are nocturnal foragers, feeding on insects, including beetles and roaches. They can live up to six years and sometimes congregate in packs. Many of them survived intact close to ground zero when the United States conducted atomic blast tests in the desert. Their venom is the most potent of any scorpion in North America, and it can be fatal to small animals, children, the elderly, or the sick.
However, Arizona bark scorpions are up against a small predator with a strong defense. The southern grasshopper mouse eats grasshoppers, centipedes, snakes, and scorpions. These mice are immune to the venom of snakes and scorpions. They also eat highly venomous centipedes, which could kill the mouse. However, this courageous mouse sneaks up and pounces on its prey like a cat.
The southern grasshopper mouse has an excellent defense against the terrible pain from the Arizona bark scorpion’s sting. If the scorpion stings humans or ordinary mice, sodium channel proteins in the skin send a painful message to the brain. However, when the southern grasshopper mouse is stung, channels block the flow of sodium, and the pain is quickly gone. More than that, researchers found that the venom injection also blocked other pain sensations for the mouse.
The scorpion and the mouse can teach a lesson to medical scientists working on pain-relieving drugs. Doctors have been trying to find ways to block human pain channels for years. The southern grasshopper mouse may have the solution if we can learn how the system works and how we can duplicate it. Science has made many medical discoveries by studying God’s design in the natural world.
On our websites, we often talk about evidence for design in nature. When average people see the amazingly organized structures in living organisms, they can’t help but feel that they must be designed. Even Richard Dawkins, the evolutionist best known for his worldwide atheism campaign, said that living systems “give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose” (The Blind Watchmaker, page 1). Of course, he adds that it is only an illusion. Atheist Francis Crick, who with James Watson, discovered the helical structure of DNA, warned biologists that they must “constantly keep in mind that what they see was not designed, but rather evolved” (What Mad Pursuit, page 138).
The intuition of design is nothing new. Plato and Aristotle saw evidence for design in nature and thought there must be a mind behind it. Of course, they could not know about the information-rich DNA molecule and the intricate structures within every living cell. They didn’t even know about cells. Even Charles Darwin thought that cells were just jelly-like protoplasm. He had no idea that there are machines, transportation vehicles, gates, duplicators, inspectors, and trash collectors within the cell wall in a city-like structure.
The more we learn about the inner workings of living things, the more we see design evidence not even imagined in previous years. Every living cell has a DNA molecule containing the instructions for building the proteins and structures required for that living creature. Computer pioneer Bill Gates wrote, “DNA is like a computer program, but far, far more advanced than any software ever created” (The Road Ahead, page 188). Even Richard Dawkins wrote, “The machine code in the genes is uncannily computer-like” (River Out of Eden, page 17).
Is there evidence for design in nature? Let me ask another question. Has any computer program ever created itself by chance, or did an intelligent mind write it? Apply that thought to the living things you see every day.
The name “harrier” comes from a word that means to pillage or rob. So why are several species of hawks known as harriers? The northern harrier (Circus hudsonius) is a hawk species with a harrier design.
Northern harriers breed in Canada and the northern United States and migrate to Mexico and Central America during the winter. Their ability to “pillage or rob” comes from their long wings and tails, allowing them to fly slowly and quietly close to the ground to snatch their unsuspecting prey. They have the longest wing and tail length relative to the body size of any North American bird of prey (raptor).
Northern harriers hold their long wings in a “V” shape as they closely circle the contours of the land, ready to capture small mammals such as mice, rats, ground squirrels, and voles. Sometimes, they catch frogs or small birds. They have excellent hearing and use that to locate their prey. Farmers sometimes call these birds “good hawks” because they eliminate rodents that destroy crops and don’t bother poultry as other hawks do.
You can see the “V” shape of the wings of a harrier hawk on harrier aircraft, which were designed for short/vertical take-off and landing. A good design deserves to be imitated, and this is another example of many of God’s designs that humans have copied to create useful tools. In the harrier design, we see the work of the Master Designer.
Most of us are familiar with the incredible migrations of monarch butterflies. Until recently, scientists could not track a butterfly species migrating distances exceeding the monarchs. It is the migration of painted lady butterflies.
These butterflies weigh less than a gram, so attaching tracking devices to them is impossible. For that reason, the paths traversed by the migration of painted lady butterflies were unknown until researchers developed a tracking system involving hydrogen and strontium isotopes in their wings.
As with monarch butterflies, painted ladies make their migrations over several generations. Unlike monarchs that specialize in milkweed, painted ladies feed on numerous host plants, allowing them to migrate up to 9,300 miles annually. The migration of painted lady butterflies in Europe and Scandinavia involves traveling to Africa and back. In North America, they travel between Canada and Mexico. In Asia, they fly through the Himalayas. Painted ladies are designed to weather cold conditions with yellow fat reserves and by shivering to generate body heat. They can fly up to 30 miles per hour.
Everywhere we look in the natural world, we see examples of design showing wisdom and intelligence. The food chain would be interrupted, and life on Earth would cease to exist without insects designed to withstand all kinds of environmental factors. The migration of Painted lady butterflies is not an accident of nature, but the product of a mind that designed Earth and all that lives on it so we can be here.
